Insulating support for electrical wires



1954 o. 1.. HANSON ET AL 2,691,695

INSULATING SUPPORT FOR ELECTRICAL WIRES Filed June 24, 1949 Qwue/wtow OSCAR LHANSON 05cm 5.8TEEN Patented Oct. 12, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE INSULATING SUPPORT FOR ELECTRICAL WIRES Qscar' L. Hanson, Bruce, and Oscar. S. Steam, Brookings, S. Dak.

This invention relates to electrical insulators and especially to insulating devices designed to support wires that conduct electricity.

More particularly, the present invention is concerned with insulators arranged in line at a series of: spaced points to support one or more electrically charged wires. As a specific example, one may mention the electric fence commonly used on ranches or ranges to prevent livestock from crossing borders and where the line may fre quently be broken down or the insulators may require replacement.

It is the primary object of the present invention to devise an improved insulator to which a freely strung wire may be conveniently attached or slung. In this connection it is an object to provide an insulating body (one or more parts) and a mounting device therefor having a common clamping means for securing the device to a support and for holding a conducting wire within or upon the insulating body. Hereinafter, and in the claims, an insulator is intended to refer to a complete insulating device with any associated parts for mounting it upon a permanent support.

It is a further object to devise an insulator comprising an adjustable clamp to fit supports of variable shapes and sizes such, for example, as fence posts of L, T and U cross sectional shapes.

Another object of this invention is to provide an insulator having a two-part body, one part grooved for reception of a wire and the other part adjustable to permit easy insertion and removal of the wire. In this connection, it is an important object to pivotally interconnect the two parts on an off-center pivot, with the groove also off-center, for purposes to appear later.

The term wire is intended to mean whether a bare wire or a conductor covered with insulating material.

The foregoing and further objects of this invention should clearly appear from a study of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment as it might be designed, for example, for attachment to a fence post;

Fig. 2 shows the same device in side elevation and partially in cross section as seen on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, viewed as in Fig. 1, illustrates the manner in which a part of the insulating body is adjusted to facilitate insertion or removal of a wire;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the clamping means with the entire insulating body removed therefrom;

Fig. 5, in a. view corresponding to Fig. 4,, shows a slightly modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 6, further illustrating the embodiment of 5., represents a cross section taken substantially on. the plane that divides the two-part insulating body.

With continued reference to the drawing, and first to Figs. 1-4 only, there is shown for support. of an insulating body, a clamp comprising two axially adjustable parts 8 and 9 having, respectively, winged or hooked ends Ill, l2, designed to engage and receive two edges of a supporting member such, for example, as a steel fence post. The part 9 has a, stem 13 secured thereto, preferably by welding as at M, and this stem extends through a longitudinal slot IS in the part 8. In the form being described, the stem is cylindrical in cross section and hence the parts 8 and 9 may be os'cillatably as well as linearly adjusted.

The free end It of the stem I3 is externally threaded to receive a clamping element which may take the form of an internally threaded wing nut I1. Between this nut and the part 8 there is interposed a pair of wire-holding and insulating elements [8, [9, formed of porcelain or any other suitable material and constructed as follows:

The elements l8 and i9 may be of any desired cross-sectional shape but preferably are cylindrical, and they are apertured longitudinally and eccentrically to freely receive the stem [3. In its outward face the element l8 has also a transverse groove 20, also eccentric but in a zone opposite the center line from the pin l3. This groove 20 is provided for reception of a conducting wire (not shown) which may be either secured or loosely slung therein when the nut I! is tightened.

Tightening of the nut I! serves to fasten the clamp B, 9 to a post or other support while simultaneously serving to trap the wire within the groove 20 by pressing the elements l8, [9 together.

offsetting the groove 20 and the pin it at opposite sides of the center line serves two purposes. First, it affords a maximum insulating distance between the pin and the conducting wire to be suspended. Secondly, and more important, it facilitates connection of the wire to the insulator for, as seen in Fig. 3 the element It may be oscillated to hang downwardly and thus expose the groove, after which (upon nimbly pushing the wire into slung position) the element l9 may be swung to the position of Figs. 1 and 2 prior to 3 tightening of the nut [1. It should be appreciated that the relationship between the groove and the pin may be reversed (see Fig. 6) or otherwise altered within the scope of the invention.

As seen in the modification illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6', a pin I30 that is square or otherwise nonrotatably shaped may extend freely through a complemental hole 200 in an insulating element 180 that corresponds to the element [8 of Figs. 1-3. By this provision the clamp members 8 and 9 are limited to axial movement and the groove 20 is held at any predetermined angle to the axis of the clamp. Also, as noted above, the groove may be below instead of above the pin, thus requiring an upward instead of a downward oscillation of the element 19 to permit insertion of the undisclosed conducting wire.

The operational use of the device ought now to be clear. It should be understood that various changes in design may be made within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, as is customary, it is desired that the appended claims be given a reasonable liberal interpretation in the light of the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. In an insulating device, a single interconnection pin, fixedly mounted, an insulating part non-rotatably supported by said pin, a second insulating part oscillatable upon said pin in juxtaposition to said first mentioned part, normally on a line below its center of gravity, one of said parts having a straight groove facing the other and of a depth to completely receive a portion of a suspended conducting wire.

2. In claim 1, said groove being formed entirely in the first mentioned insulating part.

3. In an insulating device, a support comprising a stationary element carrying a fixed pin, said pin having a non-cylindrical section to which is mated a nonrotatable insulating element, said pin also having an extension upon which there is mounted in close juxtaposition a freely oscillatable insulating element, said elements providing in one position a channel for complete retention of a conductive wire, and readily manipulatable means on the extreme end of said extension for locking and unlocking said elements against and from relative rotation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 398,025 Brown Feb. 19, 1889 508,687 Duggan Nov. 14, 1893 917,207 Weber Apr. 6, 1909 1,697,062 Hofiman Jan. 1, 1929 2,222,810 Daily Sept. 8, 1939 2,437,344 Behlmann Oct. 27, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 140,338 Switzerland Aug. 16, 1930 292,509 Italy Jan. 21, 1932 664,844 Germany Sept. 13, 1938 

